Friend says Samantha Fraser ‘not at all’ suicidal before alleged murder, court hears

A friend of late Samantha Fraser has rejected claims Phillip Island mother was suicidal when she died, instead claiming she was in a “good place”.

Samantha Fraser was found dead at her Phillip Island home.

Phillip Island mother Samantha Fraser was happy, excited for the future and ­“absolutely not” suicidal when she died, a court has heard.

Friends of the mother of three told the Supreme Court on Monday Ms Fraser had been in a “good place”, was laughing more and had started a new relationship before her death in July 2018.

Police found Ms Fraser hanging in her Cowes garage shortly after 5pm on July 23 after failing to pick up her children from school.

Her estranged husband, Adrian Basham, has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

Prosecutors allege Mr Basham lay in wait for his wife to return home from school drop-off, followed her into her garage, assaulted her then tied a noose around her neck.

Mr Basham has admitted injuring Ms Fraser, but claims she was alive when he left her and that her death was a suicide.

Friend Nadine Leed told the jury that while Ms Fraser had been low and upset after her separation from Mr Basham in early 2017, at the time of her death she was the most positive she had been in months.

Adrian Basham is on trial for Ms Fraser’s death.

Asked if Ms Fraser had ever expressed any thoughts of suicide or self harm, Ms Leed said: “Absolutely not at all”.

Ms Leed recalled being confronted by Mr Basham on the beach after his separation from Ms Fraser when he accused Ms Leed of “believing Sam’s lies about him”.

“He was quite loud and quite present in my face. He asked how I would feel if I wasn’t able to see my children,” she said.

Another friend, Rebecca McFarlane, told the court Mr Basham approached her in the supermarket in February 2018 and called Ms Fraser “an absolute disgrace for taking the children away from him”.

Ms McFarlane said while her friend had become vulnerable and in need of support in 2017, she had been able to “pick herself up”.

Luke Henderson, who is married to Ms Fraser’s sister, said his sister-in-law had overcome her fears to be “hopeful and optimistic”.

The trial before Justice Lesley Taylor continues.